Some electrophotographic devices such printers or facsimile apparatuses which consume a print agent and, more particularly, toner as a print agent use the cartridge scheme, in which a cartridge is filled with toner, and the whole cartridge is exchanged when the toner runs out. As advantages of this scheme, the cartridge can be easily exchanged, and when the cartridge has another expendable component such as a transfer body, the component can also be exchanged together with the cartridge, resulting in very easy maintenance. In addition, when the cartridge serves as some of the components of the device, the prime manufacturing cost of the device main body can be reduced.
The cartridge (to be sometimes abbreviated as a CRG hereinafter) is normally sold from the maker of a device that uses the cartridge to a device user through a sales channel. A used cartridge is also collected by the device maker.
FIG. 31A is a view showing a cartridge sales form. A user pays a shop for a cartridge in a sell-through form and manages the bought cartridge by himself/herself. In this sell-through form, the cartridge (CRG) is completely bought by the user.
FIG. 31B is a view showing how to collect a used cartridge conventionally. As shown in FIG. 31B, generally, the user brings the used cartridge to the shop or puts the used cartridge in a collection box and sends it to a collection base for collection.
FIG. 31C shows a conventional maintenance form for a device main body. Since both the device main body and expendables such as a cartridge are sold in the sell-through form, the user must maintain the device by himself/herself or request for repair (spot repair), as needed, unless he/she has a maintenance agreement with the shop.
In addition to such a sell-through form, there is also a charge scheme called “click charge”. This scheme is used for, e.g., a copying machine. In this scheme, a counter for counting the number of copies is prepared in a copying machine, a technician goes to the user site periodically or in accordance with a request from the user, maintains the copying machine, and simultaneously, reads the counter value, and records the difference between the read value and the precedingly checked counter value as the number of copies. The user is billed the total value of an amount corresponding to the number of copies and the maintenance cost by mail or the like.
However, in the cartridge sell-through scheme as for a printer, since the time when the toner runs out (toner out) cannot be predicted, and the exchange time is not constant, the budget necessary for maintenance of the device and purchase of expendables is difficult. For example, cost is incurred every time repair or cartridge exchange is done. In addition, it is hard to accurately estimate the cost because the number of printed paper sheets and printer operation state cannot be grasped
In addition, a printer or the like must always be usable during business hours. For this purpose, spare cartridges must always be ensured so that the cartridge can be exchanged immediately when toner out occurs. However, it is costly to always make a space for stock of cartridges.
On the other hand, in the click charge scheme used for a copying machine or the like, the user can know the number of copies, and a budget can be easily formed. However, since an engineer must periodically or irregularly go to the user site, the maintenance cost is high. In addition, as in the cartridge sell-through scheme, the user himself/herself must supply toner to immediately cope with toner out or the like, and reserve toner must always be prepared for this purpose.
Since a copying machine or the like uses the scheme of supplying toner, toner is not wasted, and the click charge scheme can be implemented. However, when the click charge scheme is directly applied to a cartridge-type device, toner that remains in the cartridge and is discarded is wasteful, resulting in an increase in prime cost. For this reason, the click charge scheme cannot be applied to general devices such as a printer.
In the copying machine which does not employ the cartridge scheme, the expendable components are degraded according to the number of copies and a periodical maintenance is required. For this reason, the click charge scheme is commonly applied. However, in a printer using a process cartridge (to be simply referred to as a cartridge hereinafter) which accommodates toner, developing unit, and the like, many expendables or components that readily malfunction due to degradation are accommodated in the cartridge. Hence, particularly in the case when the apparatus itself has been used just for a few years, the user rarely requests a serviceman or the like for repair, and normally, periodical maintenance and check are not executed. Additionally, even when the number of printed paper sheets is large, the cost necessary for maintenance is not always high. Normally, when a maintenance agreement is made for a cartridge-type printer, the maintenance service charge is constant independently of the number of output paper sheets.
On the other hand, the cartridge scheme for a printer is advantageous in maintenance/check because supply of expendables and exchange of components can be easily done at once. However, used cartridges pose an environmental problem. The makers are trying to collect, decompose, and recycle used cartridges. To solve the environmental problem, the used cartridge collection ratio must be improved.
Many printers output a toner out warning before they become unprintable. However, even after such a warning, several ten to several hundred paper sheets can be printed. Few users exchange the cartridge immediately after the warning. Hence, when the toner runs short, the user is forced to reprint due to print blur or detach the cartridge, and shake and then attach it again.
In recent years, composite machines which integrate the copy function, scanner function, and printer function are becoming popular. Such devices are classified into neither a copying machine nor a printer. Devices mainly serving as a copying machine and employing the cartridge scheme have also been put on sale. For such a device, although the cartridge is employed, maintenance is not unnecessary, unlike a printer device used for general home use, because the number of components increases as the device has multiple functions. Additionally, for a high-speed output image forming apparatus, maintenance is necessary although it is a composite machine employing the cartridge scheme. Especially, when the apparatus is continuously used for a certain period, maintenance is required because of, e.g., exhaustion of components. The conventional maintenance agreement cannot sufficiently cope with these situations. For example, an agreement for the maintenance service may be made by a charge system (click charge) corresponding to the number of printed paper sheets, and the charge for a cartridge may be independently paid. However, this considerably complicates payment and is also inconvenient for the user and the serviceman who accepts payments.